This is the city: Los Angeles, California. I work here. I'm an ex-mayor. Los Angeles is a magnet for people from all over the world. Some of them run for public office. Inevitably some of them stray from the golden rule and rule for those that have the gold. That's when I go to work. My name is Yorty. I'm a dead pol.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Sunday Morning Mimosa

The City's density Stasi are bringing the same kind of dystopic bedlam to Ventura Boulevard that they brought to the Westside. The Times is starting to catch up and discovers that the neighborhood councils, though largely powerless, are the organizations that best speak for the opposition. There wasn't a good enough homeowners/renters ratio to combat density on the Westside, but there might be in the Valley.

What went wrong with Drew Street, Glassell Park? The Times also revisits the case of Chata Leon, who's an avatar of everything gone wrong with the City-as-an-immigrant-haven. Haven't we seen this story before, elsewhere? But the article does point to a constant problem in LA:

The number of apartment buildings doubled. City records show that from 1984 to 1992, builders razed 30 single-family houses and erected apartment complexes in their place, adding 480 units to the 12-square-block neighborhood -- between the Glendale Freeway and Forest Lawn Memorial-Park -- that includes Drew Street.

Living conditions began to resemble those of many public housing projects, particularly on Drew Street, where the concentration of apartments was the greatest....

53 Comments:

Anonymous said:

Azalatan 'University" teaches in Mandarin, Chinese. We will have the best educated children who speak Azatlan, Mexican (not Spanish) and Mandarin, Chinese. Skilled students of the past learned French and English as the international languages. My question, when will the students and the parents in LAUSD learn to read and write English, the mother tounge of this country and the current language of international displomacy?

That truck reminds me of the truck which gave us poor Chicano kids a ride to see games at the Coliseum.

The trucks reminds us of how great a city L.A is, we still have old trucks roaming the streets built by mexicans. And speaking of great mexicans my father worked at the local truck factory building trucks. My father a great chicano even built that truck in the picture, I knew the truck looked pretty familar to me. You know I work construction, and I cut that piece of plywood on the back of the truck, I can tell because I had a saw blade with a missing tooth, that left a unique cut on the plywood.

The mexican immigrants built L.A., and it's trucks, why is Joe always talking about gangs? Has Joe been talking to anony-mousa with the shar-pei face. lol

Some speak of teaching with an eye "toward international commerce". What a waste. They need to get back to basics. Try keeping the kids in school until graduation.

Los Angeles is not a "City-as-an-immigrant-haven", as you say. Los Angeles is a "City-as-A-POVERTY-STRICKEN-IMMIGRANT-haven". The Mayor has attracted to our city the lowest, less capable immigrants with the hope that Federal moneys spread among the Angelenos will mitigate the impact. But, the moneys are now drying up. We are very impacted and we are aware of the ruse.

The Drew St. article is GREAT! All of the illegals on Drew St. came from one of the most violent ghettos in Mexico (can't think of the name off hand)...and, instead of deporting all of them and their anchor brats, the brilliant city planners kept building more apt. bldgs for them... better to hide in ghetto apts!

Now we are inundated with these vicious, violent gangs!!! Good going...you morons in City Hall!

Now, wouldn't it be great if all these illiterate, non-English speaking gangsters learned Chinese! Since they, and our genius Mexican mayor, can't even speak English...maybe Chinese is the way to go!

And, oh yes...let's ship them all to China after they learn Mandarin...I hear there's a huge shortage of migrant workers!!!

I am sooo happy my kids didn't have to attend the ghetto LAUSD schools! They should be closed down and turned into mixed use properties...just like they want to do on Ventura Blvd.

We need more density, more Chinese, more stupid idiot asses in City Hall...!!!!!

Its good to see that 70, 80 year old NIMBYs along Ventura Blvd. have it all figured out.

If you were going to build up any part of the Valley, outside of the Metro station areas, Ventura Blvd. makes sense. You can locate people very close to jobs and shopping, compared to some of the development around Metro stations (even North Hollywood) that don't yet have the foot traffic or critical for people to move there in droves.

If you want to keep this city going, you've got to house the young professionals, or they're going to move to Newport or Santa Monica or San Francisco or wherever, creating a brain drain on the few companies that are left here in LA.

Otherwise the City will continue to become a dying burg of old white people and low skilled immigrants with no one to create opportunities for them.

there was an article on this, about a Chinese language teacher who was so frustrated with the "Los Angeles," i.e. Hispanic, lower-class classroom he was stuck in. Girls putting on makeup and doing their nails, guys distracted and even napping, biding their time. So I'm not sure how much anyone is actually "learning." Wonder how much it costs to bring these Chinese teachers over here, to house then, etc.

That's brilliant.. It's much more entertaining than this obvious distempered cur who keeps blathering about "anonymousa/anonymousa/anonymousa/anonymousa, defending the very element that is bringing this city to her knees...

MS, have you lost your senses? Smart-growth is a myth, a false-hope. It only works on paper, or in fantasyland. You're not going to get any self-repecting "young professional" to live in a loft on a busy, noisy street (you may be the only exception to this, I'm guessing the comeback). They'll want to live in a condo in the suburbs, NO mixed-use. What you'll get, in reality, is day laborers or similar, 10 to a room. Los Angeles will house the servant-class for the rest of Southern California.

This city is expecting public buses to be it's primary transportation means. That system will always be a cruel joke, with lost "comfort" and found "criminal element".

And yes, they wanna teach Chinese. The mayor happens to already have a pretty good idea of who is going to be buying all these condos over the next twenty years. (Who do you THINK will be able to afford all this high-end luxury housing the City is building? The middle class people from the Valley who you are taxing into the streets. Plus, you keep allowing non-documented workers to take jobs (like so many construction jobs that ZD see workers picketing over) from the people you depend on for these fees and taxes. (See City budget crisis)

So yeah, the mayor knows it is the people currently living in China, that speak Chinese are the customers for all of these high density upscale condos the city is building.

Smart Growth is going to cause HUGE long term problems for Los Angeles because City Councilmember Eric Garcetti and Planning Commissioners ADMIT OPENLY that the move to mass transit is KEY. And part of the plan is actually to make traffic so bad that people decide to take mass transit. Except it hasn't been built yet to the degree they require. AND, it is a fantasy illusion to think people in L.A. (the people you need to start taking the public transportation) will ever take it.

Even if they were willing to sit elbow to elbow with all the other people...there's waaaaaaaay too much walking involved, once you reach your destination. AND, not everyone will wait on the street corner for the half hour or more you have to wait sometime, just to get on the bus...plus the added walking in between (long city blocks)...FORGET IT. Game over...City over.

Zuma Dogg, it's highly unlikely that large numbers of Chinese will buy these luxury condos. Chinese in general strongly identify with their own people, and wish to live amongst themselves - like most ethnic groups on Earth. If they're gonna be buying up thousands of condos, it'll only happen where there's a sizable pre-existing Chinese population, e.g., the SG Valley.

I happen to think that Weiss's explanation for the Ventura Blvd. corridor makes sense: the city must designate certain thoroughfares which can handle denser projects, those that are along transit corridors, as a trade-off to prevent them from springing up everywhere, including single-family neighborhoods. He specifically says he wants to protect the latter, so it's a win-win.

What else would be the alternative? Maybe having Ed Reyes' vision, where he'd shove high-rise units with no parking into ANY areas of the city, including R-1 zones? As he said, he wants to move the masses to "where the parks are" specifically in CD11 and CD5, and that means quieter neighborhoods.

People are currently choosing to move to places like West Hollywood, near Old Town, and S M Promenade, because of the city-like feel. People who love New York, London, Paris, all the great cities, enjoy walking to restaurants and shops to home. Those who don't want that, can choose not to move there.

On Ventura, developers aren't putting the developments closer to homes than a block, and they're spaced out along the boulevard. Nowhere near what WeHo is.

One problem for our city: Santa Monica, which calls itself liberal, and has been a homeless haven (something they're trying to change due to resident and business opposition) builds NO affordable housing at all. But they clog our roads with people from the Valleys and from upto 2 hours away, who work there but can't afford to live there. And then they won't cooperate with L A on any transit projects. (Plus they charge L A Residents more to use their parks, ban them from some dog parks altogether, etc.) But they enjoy revenue from Angelenos who go there to shop and pay to park at the beach.

Some of you people need to get out and walk around Ventura Blvd. as well as North Hollywood and see who's actually moved into those neighborhoods in the last couple of years. Its not dish washers, it's not Chinese immigrants (though there are some), its not homeless guys, its people about 22-35ish from places like Washington state, Ohio, New York, Chicago, Napa, Portland, Denver, etc. who can't afford $1.2 million for a two bedroom in Valley Village nor do they want to move to McBean Parkway. They don't mind paying $2400 a month for a 1200 sq foot flat if they can walk to HOWS, Starbucks, an italian joint, a booze bar, etc.

The build nothing crowd is just completely out of touch as they either sit in their WeHo walkup, Encino ranch house or Granada Hills double wide aghast at construction. Most of these NIMBY types are going to either move to Santa Clarita or Riverside or Pullayup, WA before this stuff is built and the other half will be dead or living at Leisure World so why do they give a fuck? Get out! Leave! Let us make the city work for the people who will be here for the next 30 years.

One thing these dummies don't understand is that even if there is no train to take people to their job in Santa Monica, IF they can walk to the store or a restaurant or the bank that's cutting down some traffic.

When I lived in Sherman Oaks I had to drive everywhere because I was landlocked by houses (including that of my old neigbor GET READY FOR A BOB HERTZBERG MENTION Bob Hertzberg and his wife) and there was no stores, etc. to walk to.

Now that I live in NoHo I can walk to work, walk to the store, walk to Starbucks, walk to get drunk, etc.

Another thing - IF you replace an office building or shopping center with residential you are cutting down the trips. Residential does not generate as much traffic as an office (think of it - guests coming and going all day - an apartment - people come and go just twice a day).

How about we discuss Homeless Dave and the lies he tells on the blog? How about some of the stuff he's reporting and how absolutely useless it is. His blog drops like a rock and noone reads it nor do they post on such an idiotic stie.

All the Hispanics, the two most liberal whites (Garcetti and Rosendahl) and 2 of 3 blacks supported this. What a surprise.

There are some who think current penalties for those under 18 are too harsh. But I don't like eliminating possibility of life without parole -- some crimes, like walking up to someone and shooting him dead point blank, especially if it's an innocent or a kid or old lady telling you stop spraypainting her house -- might deserve it.

Sad as it is, some of these "kids" aren't really kids anymore. Some of them are hardened gangbangers at age 10. What should happen, is tht they're all taken away to juvenile homes at a much younger age, like when they start school (another gang training and recruiting ground for many).

Those "mothers" on Drew St., the one in the Daily News who's getting tried for murder for driving kids to murder a 13-year-old, lots and lots of these -- why should they be given the "right" to raise their kids, when middle class families who slap a spoiled brat are hauled off and tried for "child abuse?"

Whatever the juvenile homes cost, it's less than trying to fix them after the fact or incarcerate them. And being in a juvie home is better than being locked up for life, without a soul.

Gotta agree with Sam (and even Jack Weiss) on this one. There has to be a sane middle ground. It's NIMBY's who want absolutely nothing and shake down developers who helped drive AB1818. Every successful city has some designated density corridors and others that are single family.

And people might want one when they're single, another when they've got kids who want a yard. Besides, keeping Sam out of his car when he goes to get drunk is a very good thing, a reason in itself.

His blog has gone dead as a doornail so he drops in here to try to siphon off some readership.

It took Sam a while to figure it our right, but when he got it, he acted correctly.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am a lot happier that he is mostly gone from this blog and I don't have to scroll through his indetermitly long and tedious posts to get to something worthwhile.

And I really don't miss his crew of haters and cut and pasters, who seem to have gone with him.

What are you talking about? I've noticed a lot of issues are not getting the attention on this blog, and a lot of people in the community work hard to provide the info. This type of stuff used to be blogger here, but not as much, anymore. So I don't think it's a big deal if I post what's new on my blog, any more than people copy and paste entire articles from newspapers in the comment section.

And make no mistake, I don't think it's totally accurate to say Mayor Sam made the decision for me to leave. But that doesn't really matter. But what does matter is the reason there is no more ZD hate being posted is because YOU are not posting it.

Meanwhile, don't make matters worse by mentioning me, at all. Why would you?

And just about every thread (if not every thread) I post on my blog makes it into BNN Top 5 for the state, and some make it into Top 5 for country.

When I post, many times I have 5 of the Top 10 most clicked for the day.

The reason I stayed level at #12 this week in BNN ranking is because I took a couple days off from posting, when the MySpace karaoke machine came out this week and I recorded over 50 songs.

But every post went into the Top 5.Dude, if you want to see my blog beat every other local blog in the city, just lemme know. The BNN ranker is good, but that's only clicks from BNNs page, for one. Secondly, your talking a difference of a few clicks (like 36 vs 40) on the difference between Top 5 and Top 15/20.

Plus, you really shouldn't even compare my blog with Mayor Sam anymore. It's basically apples and oranges at this point, with just a little bit of overlap.

talk about the housing projects and crime, the president/CEO formerly known as the executive director (he changed his title, little pudgy bastard) has floated the idea of demolishing Jordan Downs and rebuilding upward 2,100 units. Last week the HACLA board approved the purchase of land next to the project (9901 Alameda) for a low 31.2 Million!! The land is zoned for heavy industrial use. The money to build new housing is coming from the city!!! and not from the federal government. Now explain this, you demolish 700 units and you rebuild 2,100 units, do you think the crime will go up or down? what about the cost, the site will need to be cleaned up before any construction goes up, this smells bad! Janice, are you supporting this? Maxine, we know you know what is behind this.

By the way, the gang (grape street)that was indicted last week on drug manufacturing and sales is from Jordan Downs, funny how LA Slimes forgot to mention this. I guess we need to build more units so that the gang does not have to drive to San Bernardino and we can house them locally!

By the way, the gang (grape street)that was indicted last week on drug manufacturing and sales is from Jordan Downs, funny how LA Slimes forgot to mention this.

ay carumba! the slimes didnt say the grape street CRIPS from jordan downs even though the whole universe knows. were those slimes trying to con our anonymousa for more cut and pastes? without KEY information, anonymousa could of thought the "grape street gang" (tehheh) was hispanic and posted the slimes article over an over for more publicity to the slimes. its very fishie.

Why hasn't anyone mentioned that yesterday all throughout the US for ONE HOUR to conserve engery every city turned off their lights. Hey, but LA wasn't part of it. LA was the only city who didn't participate yet DWP wants to raise our rates 9%. Who screwed up and forgot to tell the residents of LA? Oh I forgot the politicans were too busy walking with all the illegal TJ's in downtown yesterday. Cesar Chavez would roll over if he knew his family are the biggest crooks and take advantage of the farmworkers.

You're going to see some overlap between issues of our blog and Zuma's blog but we have two different networks of folks providing content so read both blogs and you'll be up to speed on a lot of issues in LA, not just the namby pamby stuff other blogs and fishwraps want you to read. Admittedly, some of the items covered are boring, but they all reflect back to important issues.

I'm not seeing overlap. I'm seeing you deleting posts that the clowncil thinks you dont matter because you have the city terrorist here. Delete your heart out. We email page views to Garcetti's office on the fly so he can track what you delete.

MS,You don't design a city primarily based on the needs of young professionals, AKA transient residents. Yes, they will be the "short-timers" and will not be the "rock of the community". You base your design on the needs of the family. Families will not wish to live above commercial stores, on busy thoroughfares. Families want a safe environment. Families want schools and kid play areas. Families will want the equivalent to the suburbs.

L.A. transportation needs cannot be effectively met primarily by public buses and metros. It will only work if gas prices go to $7.00 per gallon, or so. Only then will Americans in Los Angeles use the buses. But, that won't happen since the economy won't work with diesal prices correspondingly high. So, in actuality, what we'll get is people using the system (and getting worse and worse sub-standard results) with very slow freeway speeds, maybe some toll roads, a few using the metro, and the underclass using buses.

What the city needs is an effective culture of car pooling and illegal, single-person car ridership on the freeways. This solution is not sexy. It's workable but does not allow justification of the massive public spending of the metro-subways. Many of our public officials are either idealistic or corrupt (most are corrupt).

Yes, Bratton agrees with you. If long-time residents of Los Angeles don't like what he (and "The Billionaires") are doing to the city then leave. That's what he stated. And that's what they want. They want the current, residents of Los Angeles to be replaced with immigrants, people with less expectations, from south of the border, eastern europe, and asia.